June 18
Well, school has ended for the year, and it's time to catch up on reading all the great books that I don't get to during the year. And then to reread all the books we'll be studying next year, plus the ones my book group reads. I love rereading books because I always find new things to think about.
But before I read ANYTHING else, I'm going to take another Foster's excellent book How to Read Literature Like A Professor. Now, when I give my students a chapter from that book to read, I have to admit a bit of fear-- you'll learn some of my secret techniques! But they aren't really secret.
So I think I'll read that chapter I gave you to read tomorrow, and let you know what I'm thinking as I read it.
June 19
Right out the door, Foster is talking about East of Eden. And he's talking about images that come up again and again and again in every book and film I see. Gardens, water, serpents, apples, brothers--
The fall from grace: original sin and the loss of the garden where everything is given to mankind. All man has to do is obey some rules. But he can't, he doesn't, and all that easy living is gone. But we keep looking for it, don't we?
I particularly like Foster's "Resonance test." But it's sometimes hard to remember to listen for those things that seem to be beyond the text. I think those are the things that often are puzzling. Why is this character doing something so odd? Why did the writer introduce a strange character here (Like Ely in The Road)? Why does a speaker repeat certain phrases (like "and so it goes" in Slaugherhouse 5)? What am I missing here? Let me give you another example from my once favorite TV show, Lost. There was a character that was in the background for a while as a mysterious, ruling power. He was called Jacob. In the last two seasons, Jacob was actually seen-- a blonde guy dressed in white who had some god-like powers. And he also had an opposite, a dark haired guy dressed in black who tells Jacob he hates him. We never know the dark guy's name-- he's known as the Man in Black.
This is interesting in itself, I think. The idea of two opposite characters who seem to be hating each other and seem to have power over others is clear and compelling in and of itself. That could be all I need to understand the story.
But biblically, this sets up some interesting similarities. Genesis, as you will see, talks about a pair of brothers named Jacob and Esau who are very opposite, hate each other, and generally war with each other, and their rivalry has a whole bunch of repercussions. Those ideas echo, and Lost fans speculated on whether the story was going to parallel the biblical one even more. Recognizing the "resonance" of that biblical allusion adds a dimension to the story.
I hope reading Foster's chapter will clarify for you why we are reading Genesis, and give you some things to look for in our summer readings, and also in other pieces you read or see.
If you liked reading the chapter from Foster, you might want to read his whole book: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster. He also has another book: How to Read Novels Like a Professor. It's good too, but I think the first one is the best.
Well, school has ended for the year, and it's time to catch up on reading all the great books that I don't get to during the year. And then to reread all the books we'll be studying next year, plus the ones my book group reads. I love rereading books because I always find new things to think about.
But before I read ANYTHING else, I'm going to take another Foster's excellent book How to Read Literature Like A Professor. Now, when I give my students a chapter from that book to read, I have to admit a bit of fear-- you'll learn some of my secret techniques! But they aren't really secret.
So I think I'll read that chapter I gave you to read tomorrow, and let you know what I'm thinking as I read it.
June 19
Right out the door, Foster is talking about East of Eden. And he's talking about images that come up again and again and again in every book and film I see. Gardens, water, serpents, apples, brothers--
The fall from grace: original sin and the loss of the garden where everything is given to mankind. All man has to do is obey some rules. But he can't, he doesn't, and all that easy living is gone. But we keep looking for it, don't we?
I particularly like Foster's "Resonance test." But it's sometimes hard to remember to listen for those things that seem to be beyond the text. I think those are the things that often are puzzling. Why is this character doing something so odd? Why did the writer introduce a strange character here (Like Ely in The Road)? Why does a speaker repeat certain phrases (like "and so it goes" in Slaugherhouse 5)? What am I missing here? Let me give you another example from my once favorite TV show, Lost. There was a character that was in the background for a while as a mysterious, ruling power. He was called Jacob. In the last two seasons, Jacob was actually seen-- a blonde guy dressed in white who had some god-like powers. And he also had an opposite, a dark haired guy dressed in black who tells Jacob he hates him. We never know the dark guy's name-- he's known as the Man in Black.
This is interesting in itself, I think. The idea of two opposite characters who seem to be hating each other and seem to have power over others is clear and compelling in and of itself. That could be all I need to understand the story.
But biblically, this sets up some interesting similarities. Genesis, as you will see, talks about a pair of brothers named Jacob and Esau who are very opposite, hate each other, and generally war with each other, and their rivalry has a whole bunch of repercussions. Those ideas echo, and Lost fans speculated on whether the story was going to parallel the biblical one even more. Recognizing the "resonance" of that biblical allusion adds a dimension to the story.
I hope reading Foster's chapter will clarify for you why we are reading Genesis, and give you some things to look for in our summer readings, and also in other pieces you read or see.
If you liked reading the chapter from Foster, you might want to read his whole book: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster. He also has another book: How to Read Novels Like a Professor. It's good too, but I think the first one is the best.
Next I'll be looking at Genesis again.